Cleo Manago Speaks

America has always been a peculiar place to live for a thinking person. For instance, it purports to be a democracy, yet it was built on a particularly cruel brand of slavery, oppression and genocide. Chapter Four of its Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. Yet, women are not mentioned at all, and black people – at its inception – were deemed to be less than human. I realize that at this point in history, many view these as resolved issues, better left in the past. Even at present day, the United States is still a peculiar place to live for a thinking person. For example, currently, Barack Obama, a man with a black African father is running for president of the United States. This is occurring while the American media is still severely racist.

While a "black" Obama is running for president, African American perspectives on this issue have been all but absent from prime-time television. Logically, blacks would be increasingly intrigued by Obama's campaign, especially after his Iowa win! Yet, black voices have rarely been among the popular pundit discussions that followed. It is true that on a daily basis we can observe black news anchors delivering scripted coverage on the election. The likes of Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Dan Rather, for example, have voices NOT determined by a script. These high profile white male icons can and do articulate their spin on political issues during their own popular television shows. What black person in America can say the same? Not one.

Let's face it! Free, self-determined, unscripted speech, during prime-time television hours is not had by black people in America. Prime time is 6:00 to10:00 p.m. in Eastern and Pacific time zones and 7:00 - 11:00 p.m., in the Central and Mountain time zones. These times zones represent when television networks, such as ABC, CBS, NBC or CNN, have the most viewers. For example, Tavis Smiley's show is broadcast around or after midnight on PBS. The prime-time media and news reporting landscape where non-scripted speech can occur is still exceedingly white, and this has always been true. But the fact that Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama—a man with a black African father—has forged a viable presidential campaign makes this fact particularly ironic. Particularly to those that think.

There are no people of black/African American descent who are long-term fixtures in prime-time media with the privilege of free, impromptu expression. The last black person to literally take that license was rapper Kanye West in 2005. West was being urged by NBC to read a scripted commentary for a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser. Instead, he displayed rarely seen black male courage and blurted, "[President] George Bush doesn't care about black people!" The following day, the same 95% white panel of pundits, from CNN to all the major television affiliates, made attempts at strategically downplaying this historically unusual (and embarrassing) occurrence.

Recently, after an intense few days in Washington D.C. to conduct a training on effective service provision and public health access strategies for diverse African Americans, on the day I was scheduled to fly home, I missed the flight and was stranded. I had not accurately assessed the time needed to get to the airport on time, not considering the issue of rush hour D.C. traffic. Already worn out, I had to wait at Reagan National Airport an additional seven hours before another flight would be available.

To pass the time, I hung out in the Delta Crown Room Club, chilled, nodded a little, and waited impatiently for my departure. What I experienced over the next seven hours was surreal, including an energetic debate with two right-wing white men about George W. Bush, Christianity, Slavery, Sexuality, and the war in Iraq. This, in and of itself, is something else to write about, but for brevity I will focus on the main point.

After the long wait, my plane finally arrived. During the flight, my thoughts were filled with notions of getting a satisfying, deep sleep in my own bed. Following my arrival to the home airport and waiting a half hour for luggage, I secured an airport pushcart. I loaded my huge, heavy travel suitcase, and my filled to bursting computer backpack. I then headed to my car. My assistant had left it in the terminal parking lot so I could go straight home. Relief swept over me as I came closer and closer to my vehicle. I had made it. As I opened the trunk to load it, a young brother in the adjoining parking area asked if I knew which direction the terminal was in. Energetically drained, I pointed him there and continued loading my car. Then, with the little strength I had left, I opened the driver side door, got in, and pulled off with speeds possibly rivaling a NASCAR speed race. At last I could go home. On the way I made a pit stop at the neighborhood market to get a few things. First, I had to go in the trunk to get my wallet. It was at that moment that it dawned on me that suddenly I had a personal tragedy on my hands. Distracted by the guy at the airport terminal who asked me for directions—fatigued and slightly disoriented—I left my computer backpack on the ground after loading my suitcase into the car. I had placed the backpack next to the car, then drove off and left it. It contained my (very costly) computer, wallet, license, identification, credit cards, cash, and important writings and documents yet to be backed-up. The material value of everything was several thousand dollars. The intellectual and personal value of notes, journaling, and unfinished written ideas for me was priceless. In a flash, it was all gone!

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COREY delivers a defly written post entitled Audacity of Change regarding his feelings about Obama becoming our president. Check it out at his blog, I'll Keep You Posted.

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MARCOS LUIS,THE ART OF GIVING

My buddy, Marcos Luis, runs an Open Mic Showcase in Alphabet City, and he's being featured in an online blog called NewYorkNightsOnline.com. He's a really special person who wants nothing but to give back to the artistic community. Check out the article here.

December 8, 2008

CLEO MANAGO,LEADING MAN

Acitivist, Cleo Manago is honored as a 2008 Leading Man in Instinct Magazine.

Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and became an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in quest of an end to racial discrimination, died on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 at the age of 77. Read more.